Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed by (a) train operating companies and (b) outsourcing companies on zero-hours contracts.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Office of Rail and Road publish information on the total number of employees for each train operating company in Great Britain. The Department does not publish any official statistics on Train operating companies’ workforce.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of train operating companies’ workforce that is employed by outsourced companies.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Office of Rail and Road publish information on the total number of employees for each train operating company in Great Britain. The Department does not publish any official statistics on Train operating companies’ workforce.
Total number of employees, 2018-19
Train Operating Company | Number of Employees |
c2c | 690 |
Caledonian Sleeper | 174 |
Chiltern | 852 |
CrossCountry | 1,915 |
East Midlands Trains | 2,460 |
Govia Thameslink Railway | 7,276 |
Grand Central | 193 |
Great Western Railway | 6,343 |
Greater Anglia | 3,103 |
Hull Trains | 122 |
London North Eastern Railway | 3,012 |
London Overground | 1,451 |
Merseyrail | 1,206 |
Northern | 6,183 |
ScotRail | 5,168 |
Southeastern | 4,410 |
South Western Railway | 5,177 |
TfL Rail | 1,401 |
TfW Rail | 2,293 |
Transpennine Express | 1,258 |
Virgin Trains West Coast | 3,724 |
West Midlands Trains | 2,834 |
Additional years are available at the following link:
https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/compendia/toc-key-statistics/
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the data he used as part of a workforce planning session referred to by the Under Secretary of State for Transport in his oral evidence to the Transport Select Committee on 8 May on Train Operating Companies’ staffing levels at stations.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Department does not publish any official statistics on train operating companies’ workforces. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publish information on the total number of employees for each train operating company in Great Britain. The ORR’s website can be found at: https://orr.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Transport for the North on the feasibility of reopening (a) Golborne North and (b) Goldborne South railway stations.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As part of its GM 2040 Transport Strategy Delivery Plan, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is undertaking further study of the feasibility of opening a number of new stations in the Greater Manchester area. Work to date by TfGM has shortlisted those stations worth proceeding with, and Golborne has been identified as being one of three potential new station sites that could benefit the Hon. Member’s constituents.
The potential site being considered in Golborne is close to the site of the former Golborne South station on the West Coast Main Line, north of Golborne Junction. TfGM will be engaging with relevant stakeholders as this work progresses, including the Rail North Partnership (Department for Transport and Transport for the North) which manages rail franchises that could potentially call at a new station in this area.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267348, whether hybrid HS2 trains will stop at Wigan Station.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
HS2 conventional compatible services will stop at Wigan North Western station from the opening of Phase One. The detail on the frequency and nature of these services will be part of future timetabling decisions.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether HS2 Hybrid trains will travel through Wigan station.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
HS2 Conventional Compatible trains will travel through Wigan in all phases of HS2. Wigan North Western station, will be served by HS2 trains following completion of HS2 Phase One in 2026, and by 2033 will be served by HS2 trains from London, Birmingham, Preston and Scotland.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many mandatory cyber security training sessions civil servants working in his Department are required to undertake.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
All Department for Transport employees are required to undertake the ‘Responsible for Information’ e-learning course. This course is designed to make civil servants aware of their responsibilities when it comes to handling information, being alert to the dangers of fraud, ensuring information is protected and handled responsibly without preventing it from being shared appropriately, and how best to protect themselves and the information they hold when they are working remotely on online. All new starters are required to complete this training within 1 month of joining the Department.
All new staff with elevated access privileges are provided with enhanced, role-specific cyber and information security training and awareness.
Information security policies and procedures are kept updated, and all staff are required to undertake refresher security training at least every 3 years.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
What recent assessment he has made of the importance of transport connectivity to social mobility.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
Good transport connectivity is critical for social mobility and allows people to access a wider pool of economic opportunities, from high quality jobs to education and training opportunities.
That is why we have committed record capital investment in the transport systems and why we have put more spending power in the hands of local communities who best know the needs of their area.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2018 to Question 150255, for what reasons no reference was made to the average level of local funding for High Speed 2 rail stations in receipt of local funding.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
All HS2 stations are unique, with differing requirements at each location in terms of; landscape, station construction, and local aspirations and connectivity. These requirements need different amounts of local funding. There is no reportable average because requirements and funding discussions are still evolving.